When you think Angel Reese, you think of rebounds, defense, and the chatter about how many layups and shots she misses.
But when the Atlanta Dream needed to seal their nail-biting 101-98 win in Game 2 of the WNBA Semifinals against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night, it was Reese’s shooting that made the difference.
Reese’s clutch free-throw shooting (6-for-6 on the night), including a pair of clutch foul shots to give the Dream a three-point lead with less than five seconds left in the game, helped Atlanta move one game closer to the WNBA Finals. She also hit two huge free throws at the end of regulation, though Liberty rookie Marine Fauthoux’s monster three-pointer canceled them out, sending the game to overtime.
But that wasn’t all. Reese made several layups in the clutch tonight, including one off a dish from Naz Hillmon with 44.3 seconds left to help the Dream keep pace in the shootout and even made one of their two three-point attempts on the night. She finished the night with 23 points, tied with Jordin Canada for the team lead.
Oftentimes, Reese’s offense gets overlooked or dismissed because of her lackluster percentages outside the paint and at the free-throw line—something ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco and Rebecca Lobo took great pains to point out on the broadcast. When she has a great game offensively, the next question is usually “How many ‘mebounds’ did she have?’”
But Reese’s slow but steady improvement in this area of her game has shown up throughout the season, despite the criticisms. Tonight, in a game the Dream desperately wanted to win, going into battle without fellow star Allisha Gray, the Defensive Player of the Year (who also had two steals and a block) let her work do the talking.
Clutch Barbie, indeed.
Why Reese's offense deserves more respect
Let’s get one thing straight: the disrespect around Reese’s scoring has been outdated for some time.
Yes, her shooting is unorthodox. (If you’ve followed her journey as a basketball player and why she doesn’t shoot with her natural right hand, you know why.)
But the idea that she’s a Dennis Rodman-type player who can only rebound and play defense doesn’t hold up when you see she just averaged a career-high 16.4 points a game on a respectable 45.1 percent from the field. Plus, while her three-point shooting still leaves much to be desired, it got notably better in the second half of the season, during which she shot close to 30% from long range.
That wouldn’t happen if she just accepted the role everyone claims she should fill and refused to shoot the ball, and the Dream would be worse off for it. They certainly wouldn’t have won Game 2; that’s for sure.
But while everyone keeps clowning her and trying to put limits on what she can do, she keeps pushing the envelope, getting better and better with each passing game. As they say, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, and Reese hasn’t been afraid to learn from the misses.
Now, her relentless work ethic has her and Atlanta on the brink of making history.
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